Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America was so enthusiastic about new accusations of infidelity by Newt Gingrich’s ex-wife that he boasted on Twitter: “noted: it’s been 16 yrs since Dems had to defend a WH candidate’s marraige/sex [sic] life. For GOP, its now become wkly thing;”.
Someone going by the Twitter handle “OH_Robb” responded soon thereafter by pointing out an obvious counter-example: “John Edwards ran in 2008.”
Instead of acknowledging the error, Boehlert doubled down: “Q’s abt. Edwards marriage arose after his 2008 run was over; was never part of the campaign dialogue.”
Not only was that claim untrue–the National Enquirer accused Edwards in October of 2007–but it also highlights the left-wing media bias that Media Matters is at great pains to deny. It was no accident that journalists failed to probe Edwards until after he had dropped out.
Media Matters declares that its purpose is to correct “conservative misinformation” in the American media. To that end, it also tries to dismiss conservative allegations of left-wing bias in the mainstream media, either by denying that such bias exists, or claiming that such bias, even if it does exist, has no effect on Americans’ views. On matters such as the Edwards scandal, Media Matters provides the cover-up for the media cover-up.
The goal for Media Matters is not to win a political debate but to prevent one–to shift the terms by eliminating the few conservative voices in the mainstream media.
It has been clamoring, for instance, to have Big Journalism editor Dana Loesch fired from CNN–not just because she supported Marines accused of urinating on Taliban corpses, but also because she has pointed out the media’s double standard in pursuing Gingrich for his infidelity while showing no interest in similar accusations about Barack Obama.
Boehlert and his ally, perennial Loesch gadfly Adam Shriver, claim that the story about alleged Obama mistress Vera Baker has been “debunked.” Of course, Media Matters will minimize any Democrat scandal until far too late. It would be more accurate to say the Baker story has not (yet) been substantiated–but that’s not the point. The media generally has little interest in investigating stories about Obama–Tony Rezko, Jeremiah Wright, Solyndra, Fast and Furious–even when they are known to be true.
Even when Boehlert & Co. recognize media bias, they fail–or refuse–to identify its left-wing motivations. For example, Boehlert repeatedly mocked the mainstream media for granting disproportionate attention to Jon Huntsman’s quixotic campaign for president. He seemed outraged that they were devoting attention to any Republican candidate.
Yet it was clear that the Hunstman-loving media was using his candidacy as a foil to the rest of the Republican field and to the Tea Party movement, as well. Though his record as Utah governor was conservative, Huntsman played to the left-wing gallery, adopting the slogan “Country First”–partly in homage to a fellow GOP “maverick,” but also to echo Obama’s inflammatory charge that Republicans are putting party ahead of country.
Huntsman is the exception that proves the rule of left-wing media bias–and highlights the extreme intolerance of Media Matters, whose curiously tax-exempt enthusiasm for censorship would be quite at home in a totalitarian regime.
George Orwell famously wrote: “Who controls the past, controls the future,” and Boehlert’s attempt to rewrite the history of the Edwards cover-up highlights Media Matters’ corrosive, radical agenda.
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